This one I made about 12 years ago and has moss growing on it. It has survived very well even in the mover's van when I came to live here. I have two others made around the same time which also survive though a little patching has been needed over the years, nothing serious though.

Damo wrote recently about making a trough and this reminded me that I had two fish boxes waiting for transformation so over the past couple of days I went to work. The boxes I have this time have a very awkard rim in that it sort of pointed and hard to cover. Howver the job is done and now it waits for a week or so to harden.Then I will see if the hypertufa stays stuck on firmly. The box of course does not need to be covered completely on the inside where the compost will be. I did not take as much care as I should have with this one so hopes it works out ok. Thanks for getting me going on it Damo.

Peter this is the area to which OB is being moved. If you note the white Hydrangea to the right of the picture, his present position is sort of to the left of that where you can't see him!

Now if you can see the back of my car , pretend you are standing there walking down the light coloured path ; before you reach the grass turn to the right and you might spot a little clump of blue grass and his new position was going to be there. It sort of faces the gate and the cottage so I can see him most of the time.

There are lot of places he would fit in better but I would not be able to see him from the cottage.

The only other possibility is in the raised bed to the left of that white Hydrangea where you might spot a stone.

I fell in love with Oakbird about 6 years ago. I met him at the site of a West of Ireland wood sculptor called Ronnie Graham. I had fairly recently moved here had not loads of cash but had to have him no matter what it took and it took!

So one day I contacted Ronnie and so it came to pass that he and a friend travelled from the West bringing Oakbird to Cobh. That day I was hurting bad with an abcess on my tooth so having met my new friend in the wood and agreed with Ronnie the best place to site him off to the Dentist. On my return dear OB was in situ firmly fixed in concrete , well not directly but via long screws. This handsome bird composed of 4000 years old bog oak reigned supreme for 5 years. Then due to growth in the garden he was overcome by foliage and became difficult to enjoy so the time came to consider a move. A start was made to day when a friend started to chisel off the stone surrounding him to reach the concrete. I am so happy about this and hopefully following some more excavation and when we recruit another 2 strong persons he can be moved to a new position. I hope you like him.

I fell in love with Oakbird about 6 years ago. I met him at the site of a West of Ireland wood sculptor called Ronnie Graham. I had fairly recently moved here had not loads of cash but had to have him no matter what it took and it took!

So one day I contacted Ronnie and so it came to pass that he and a friend travelled from the West bringing Oakbird to Cobh. That day I was hurting bad with an abcess on my tooth so having met my new friend in the wood and agreed with Ronnie the best place to site him off to the Dentist. On my return dear OB was in situ firmly fixed in concrete , well not directly but via long screws. This handsome bird composed of 4000 years old bog oak reigned supreme for 5 years. Then due to growth in the garden he was overcome by foliage and became difficult to enjoy so the time came to consider a move. A start was made to day when a friend started to chisel off the stone surrounding him to reach the concrete. I am so happy about this and hopefully following some more excavation and when we recruit another 2 strong persons he can be moved to a new position. I hope you like him.

I have a humongous water lily. Today I hauled some of it to the edge of the pond but it is so heavy I was sensible and stopped. Now in the photo ,if it is not cropped, you will see a big lump whitish looking due to the sun. Closest in the photo are two 'arms' one going to left and one sort of straight ahead. The big lump extends under water . So what I need to know is can I saw off the two arms as they have new growth ? Then I may be able to drag the lump and the rest of it to the edge and dispose of the lump. Now that is all clear , no? no way will I be able to get it all out.

This is a lovely species clematis. The flowers are small, white with a blue tinge. The tips of the petals are reflexed and they look well 'cute'! It makes massive growth and flowers around August /Sept. I tried to take pictures of the flower but can't get a sharp image. However the seed pods I find fascinating they look like stars, octopuses, space invaders, well whatever you like. I am showing a photo of these again not as sharp as I would like. The odd looking 'bars' in the background are corrugated plastic sheets. I took the pic inside where it had penetrated a gap at the top of the sheeting.It has set loads of seeds and 'they' say it grows easily from seed so I am giving it a try.

There is one outstanding area in my place that still needs attention. This is where I park my car as seen in the picture, it is , in reality, more grotty looking than the picture.

The area is slightly raised as a lot of rubble from some demolition was put there.

Now I have no obvious entry to my garden so the plan is as follows. From the point on the left where I had faced a red brick raised bed with stone a block wall about 3 feet high will form a semi circle around leaving a 4 foot gap to the right of the yellow tree where the main entrance will be. I hope to have two shallow steps down into the tree/shrub part of the garden which is still developing but is a peaceful sort of place. From there you will reach the rest of the garden. The blocks will be plastered unevenely to suit the walls of the cottage and painted the same yellow as the cottage. It means my stone cladding will have to come down but not to worry. It would be too expensive to have a dry stone wall built and I think the block idea will work well. At a few points behind the wall there will be mini raised beds just the width of a block in which I can put some plants to fall over the wall and soften it. I would hope at some stage to have an arch at the entrance .

I have done a deal with a block person so it should be done within a month or so.